NCAA Division I adopts age-based, 5-year eligibility model that eliminates redshirts, waivers
The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved an age-based, five-year eligibility model on Tuesday that’s set to replace an existing model that allowed four seasons of competition over five years with no age restrictions.
The change isn’t final until the Division I Cabinet’s meeting concludes on Wednesday, but the rule change is poised to go into effect for all prospects initially enrolling full-time in college in fall 2027 or later. For incoming 2026 class members and current student-athletes with eligibility remaining, Division I schools will apply whichever eligibility model is most beneficial for each individual.
Advertisement
Student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the 2025-26 academic year will have no additional eligibility, though it’s reportedly expected that some will seek fifth years via lawsuit.
The age-based model will start student-athletes’ eligibility clocks when they first enroll in college full-time or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever takes place first.
The existing eligibility model has drawn criticism in recent years due to the manipulation of the waiver system and the surge of athletes in their mid-20s creating roster logjams. Under the age-based eligibility model, waivers — including those previously granted for hardships — and redshirts will be eliminated.
“While previous NCAA rules have served college sports well for a long time, we heard also loud and clear from NCAA members and student-athletes that eligibility rules should be easier to understand,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in an NCAA release.
“This change to an age-based model eliminates aspects of the rules that have proven difficult to administer in the current litigious environment and clearly defines the exceptions available in limited circumstances, while preserving the long-intended alignment of eligibility with typical college enrollment and graduation patterns, because 98% of the 550,000 NCAA student-athletes will go pro in something other than sports.”
As for the exceptions Baker alluded to, those include pregnancy, active-duty military service and official religious missions. Student-athletes in that bucket could delay or pause their eligibility under the age-based model.
Advertisement
An exception, administered by the NCAA Eligibility Center, will be available as long as the qualifying student-athlete doesn’t participate in organized competition in that time.
Current student-athletes who still have eligibility and are considering submitting season-of-competition or eligibility clock extension waiver requests based on circumstances during or before this past academic year must do so no later than July 31, per the NCAA release.
“After that date, waivers of the previous rules will no longer be available,” the release reads.
